Over the years many attempts have been made to devise a simply constructed and readily cleansed ash tray, which would provide a safety/fire protection feature, while at the same time permitting a supported cigarette to burn uniformly without becoming wet or contaminated with ashes.
Prior patents, which have been brought to my attention as being illustrative of those directed towards ash trays providing one or more of these features include U.S. Pat. Nos. D-203,237; 1,727,582; 2,221,300; 2,264,473; 2,275,099; 2,318,149; 2,337,409; 2,844,153; 2,910,986 and 3,675,662.
The ash trays disclosed by the above enumerated prior U.S. patents are of such diverse construction as to defy generalization other than to note that none appear to provide all of the features named as being desirable in an ash tray.